CONTINUATION OF 1911 REVIEW.
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Ambulances.
The provision of motor ambulances has become recognized as an accepted part of their duty by all progressive asylum institutions, hoards of guardians, and governors to hospitals. Speed, it has been realized, is not necessarily the only factor which should dominate the situation: it is perceived that the convenience and comfort of the patients can alone be met, in very many cases, by the use of self-propelled vehicles for ambulance and allied duties. There has been a marked increase in the number of orders for single-patient vehicles, and particularly for the types of body-work which allow the feet of the patient to rest under the driver's seat when the stretcher is in position. This country's largest purchaser of ambulances, the Metropolitan Asylums Board, has considerably increased its fleet of vehicles, and other new or renewing purchasers include the aiithorities at, amongst other places, Belfast, Bermondsey, Edinburgh, Hackney, Hamilton, Islington, Lambeth, Lightburn, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottiugham,
Partick, Salford, Sleaford, and West Ham. Doctors and hospital superintendents, who have had the opportunity to study the relative ease of motion of horse-drawn and selfpropelled ambulances, unhesitatingly pronounce in favour of the latter, en all points which affect the patient. On the score of economy, in relation to porfurmance obtained, the past year's recoras invariably show a considerable margin in favour of the motor vehicle, and opposition which gave a certain amount of trouble, in the case of some of the larger authorities, a few years ago, has now been silenced by the irrefutable achievements of the motors in service. Efforts to arrange for services on a contracting basis with garages do not appear to have been satisfactory to the contractors.
Bridge-improvement Campaign.
One of the most-important combined examples of joint deliberation during the year has been the series of conferences between the various interests which desire to see proper steps taken to strengthen legislation in regard to the improvement of privately-owned canal, railway and other bridges. As the strength of a chain is measured by that of its weakest link„ so is the value of a highway, from the standpoint of motor traffic, limited by the carrying capacity of any particular bridge which couples together separate portions el such highway. The prospects of change for the good have been materially brightened as the outcome of the action of the Joint Committee of the Commercial Motor Users Association and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. That committee has held several prolonged meetings, and has conferred with representatives of the County Councils Association, the National Traction Engine Owners and Users Association, the War Office, and other interests which are concerned in the problem of internal communication. A Bill, the clauses of which we are not at liberty to disclose, has now been drafted, thanks largely to the combined legal and technical skill of Mr. W. Joynson-Hicks, M.P.. Mr. IL Howard Humphreys, and Mr. T. F. Woodrow. This draft Bill is on the point of being considered at a final conference between delegates of the County Councils Association and the Joint Committee of the C.M.U.A. and S.M.M.T. The decision to limit the scope of the present Bill to privately-owned bridges will be understood by those who are in closest touch with the situation and its inherent complexities.
While on the subject of bridges, it is meet that a passing reference should be made to the fact that the General Committee of the Royal Automobile Club and its associated bodies, upon which the C.M.TT.A. is represented, has voted a sum of money for the painting of white " diamonds " upon the walls, palisades or other boundaries of approaches to dangerous and obscure railway or other bridges which cause the line of the highway to deviate suddenly. The first case to be taken in hand and completed, with the approval and concurrence of the railway company, is that of the bridge over the G.W.R. line near Pangbourne, Berkshire. This action must not be confused with proposals which are in hand with the object of securing uniformity in warning signals, because it concerns quite another point in the amelioration of road conditions—the painting of a mark upon an obstruction in order to render itmore apparentto drivers. The many owners who receive reports from their drivers about bridges which are a source of uncertainty will probably note the progress here related with satisfaction, and will desire—as members of the C. M.U. A.—to bear a small share of the inevitable cost. The work, of course, is being done for them. it is one of the practical directions to which the modest annual subscriptions of one guinea are so usefully applied.
Commercial Motor Users Association.
in view of the fact that we shall—in little more than two months hence—have to publish and comment upon the annual report of the C.M.U.A., we curtail reference ib this review to the work done by that body. Mention has already been made of its share in the preparation of a Bridges Bill. The conduct of the Coronation-year parade, which parade was granted the highest patronage in the land, undoubtedly was the biggest single event to be undertaken and carried through by the Association. The entries, compared with 1910, increased by nearly 400 per cent., and the widestpublicity was secured all over the world, in both the general and technical Press, for this concrete evidence of progress in Great Britain. Arising from reports upon certain difficulties which asserted themselves in connection with the judging, the Committee has wisely adopted the course of deciding to appoint an independent engineer-inspector to carry out rounds of visits and viva-voce examinations for the 1912 parade—as has been announced. Mr. George W. Watson, A.M.I.Mech.E., M.I.A.E., has been chosen for these responsible duties. He is personally well known to a large circle of our supporters. The free-defence section of the Association's work has proved to cause not inconsiderable demands upon its financial and other resources, tnd this branch of service to owners has riow been amplified by extensions which cover, at purelyuominal charges per vehicle, defences without limitation as to number in any year. The Association has been accepted to represent commercialvehicle interests upon the National Automobile Council, and it is associated with the Royal Automobile Club in proposals which are in hand to secure the removal of particular classes of endorsements front drivers' licences, It has taken the leading part in the campaign against traffic obstruction by slow-moving vehicles and tramcars, and it was successful, following negotiations which were consummated on the occasion of a deputation to the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis, Sir Edward Henry, K.C.V.O., on the 26th April, in securing the approval of local and other authorities for the first installation of a series of "Drive near left kerb' plates along the main Kensington highway. On tfie matter of tramcar obstruction, and the undoubted resulting concentration of ordinary wheeled traffic upon the portions of the highway parallel with the tram tracks, instead of its distribution over the whole area of the highway, the Association is curidueting a campaign in the London suburban Press arid amongst the London Borough Councils, in order to combat the views that tramcars should not be assessed locally and that motorbuses do not pay more than their fair share. The Association has also given attention, by the appointment of a special committee with power to co-opt, to the vital matters if improvements in facilities for the storage and transport of petroleum spirit. The membership has advanced during the year to a total of 530.
Export and Foreign Trade.
The thin-paper edition of THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR, which demand rendered necessary at the beginning of 1910, has been a regular feature of this journal's overseas circulation. In addition, " The Overseas Annual " has just been completed, and the whole of the issue is going to overseas readers—with the exception of home voucher copies, which will not be distributed for a few weeks. The contents of the issue have been prepared for the education and information of buns-fide likely purchasers in the Colonies and the Overseas Dominions, and in certain foreign countries; the great majority of the recipients will be parties whose names have been supplied from our own correspondents 'on the spot." The year has witnessed a continued return for pioneer missionary efforts in the. export field, which in our case date hack practically seven years. Results have come home from all parts of the globe, and particularly from Australasia, the Malay States, India, Canada, Russia and South America. Orders have not been limited to any one section of the industry, although tractors have enjoyed a considerable excess of favour in some cases. A regrettable feature in the overseas trade has been the unavoidable disappointment of would-be purchasers, not a few of whom appear to have suffered from the fact thathome purchasers are more readily able to bring pressure to bear upon constructors in respect of delivery. It is to be hoped that reserves will be made by manufacturers in the near future, as the tone of some letters which have reached us indicate grave dissatisfaction on the part of good overseas agents hereanent. We do not want to see more orders driven to America.